Tommy and Debora Beard are among the thousands of foreclosed Los Angeles home owners who have received eviction notices during the past year. The Beards' stretch of 101st Street forms the shape of a barbell in the middle of Watts, with cul de sacs at both ends. Their 1185-square-foot house, built in 1952, lies near one of those cul de sacs, between Success and Compton avenues. The Beards aren't giving up their house without a fight, however, and have become part of the Association Of Community Organizations for Reform Now's Home Defenders campaign, a "national foreclosure-prevention project" that aims to keep homeowners facing eviction in their houses.



Exactly how ACORN plans to do this will be revealed at a news conference held today at 2 p.m. at the Beard's home, 1544 E. 101st St. The group says its goal is to mobilize teams of volunteers who, on short notice, will appear at a targeted property to "peacefully defend" it until the owners and banks can negotiate more manageable terms for the former. It's a tactic that has been used to successfully save a few small farms over the last few years; ACORN hopes that a mix of civil disobedience, celebrity activism and bad publicity for involved banks will be enough to force lenders to reconsider foreclosing on delinquent mortgage holders.

ACORN's kickoff of the campaign comes a day after President Obama revealed his administration's Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan, and on the same day that the L.A. Times reports that Southern California house prices have dropped to 2002 levels. The Beards will be joined today by comic actress Roseanne Barr. Her presence will no doubt put  sheriff's deputies on notice down the road that by setting foot on the property, authorities will not only be invading the Beards' privacy but also stepping into Roseanne's world. That is one place no authority treads lightly.